Ok. I'll bite and do my part for page padding:

OP, You are supposed to use the paddles. You're never, ever, supposed to leave the PDK in 'D'.

 

And yet... the 981 twins enjoy both a PDK option and a true, conventional 6-speed manual option. And they leap out of the showrooms worldwide to the tune of about 3 a month. So I don't think it's a matter of economies of scale.

 

As I've read many of these posts I've found myself with brow furrowed and head cocked alternately from side to side like a spaniel trying hard to understand the inscrutable words of his master.

Many (certainly not all) of the PDK naysayers use phrases like "it's just like an automatic BMW or Audi -- put it in drive and yeah, it does a good job of shifting fast, but it's not involving."

Well, yeah... when you leave it in Automatic it's gonna seem like an automatic. To varying degrees of sportiness, based on your deployment of modes Sport and Sport Plus, but an automatic nonetheless.

So why would anyone who wants the challenge, connection, or involvement of a manual transmission choose to escape those very qualities by employing the fully-computer controlled Automatic mode? Can you see my head metaphorically cocked to one side?

True, I'm new to the box, after many decades of driving manual sportscars, beginning with a very ratty old 240z when I was 17. I'm hardly qualified to weigh in on many of the subtleties of PDK when I have less than 300 miles under my belt.

But I did choose to spend a little bit of my test driving time in Auto just to see what it was like. I thought it was fine for trundling myself and my uber-hot wife to local hotspots on a Saturday night; I thought it was numb and uninvolving for street driving otherwise, and I have not driven so much as 50 feet in that mode since getting my car. On the track, when the mind can be occupied with many other things and kept pleased with steering and braking choices, with brake-turnin-apex-throttle-trackout-nip-the-rumble-strip decisions and executions, the missing shifting experience is probably not missed at all.

But on the road, being Master of Your Domain (to borrow from Porsche enthusiast-extraordinaire Jerry Seinfeld) is the only way to drive, if you want to not lose the involvement and immediacy of a manual box.

I hope to always have a clutch-and-stick manual somewhere in my modest fleet, as I do now. But I'm also glad I get to experience the differentness of PDK -- in its own way a new skill to master, totally different from the standard H-pattern that I mastered 30 years ago.

 

Strongly disagree. 7th gear is a non issue and I would definitely prefer shorter/closer first 5 gears. With that being said, gearing wise my 997.1 6mt was more fun, and I would gladly pay the fuel consumption penalty. Wish there was short gear ratio option on the 7mt.

 

As the OP said he doesn't want to use the paddles because he finds them boring. That's the same thing I found. They just annoyed me and made me wish I could have a clutch pedal and gearshift.

 

The disorder must be contagious. My MT GTS will be delivered on Wednesday when I exchange it for my 2013 991 PDK. My left leg and right hand became bore.d

 

I wonder:

1) what percent of new PDK drivers don't know how to drive a MT?

2) how many years from now will first time drivers never learn to drive a MT? This may have already begun.

3) would more non-GT 911 owners select PDK if PDK Plus was offered in the varies non-GT cars?

 

If I was right about the 7+ pages?? On our way there!

I have yet to drive a PDK Plus (GT3), but I assume it's just like driving in Sport Plus but higher RPM shift points and different gear mapping? It's always on, and have read too much for street use so guys use the paddle shifters mostly.

For busy street driving, I never put Sport Plus on. Jumping on the freeway or on open back roads, yes! Anyone else??

 

I really like this post. For one, its long, so when I hit "reply" it eats up a lot of space getting us to page seven that much faster!

For another (new paragraph, more space!) you started on a 240-Z which so did I! A 1972 that taught me a lot as I stiffened the suspension, rebuilt the engine, reground the cam, added Weber side drafts and header. Back then of course they only had a manual, no PDK.

But my favorite part is quoting Seinfeld's Master of Your Domain comment. From the time he said, "The Carrera GT isn't the new benchmark. Its the new bench." to the time he rattled off Porsche engineering values concluding "its a better deal than a Camry!" to the time he said, "what's that number?" Wait, that was when he was asking about a 911 serial number, never mind.

Anyway, he's right about Master of Your Domain. In the past of course that meant always being a gear or two lower than needed, to keep the revs up, to be ready for anything. Because otherwise, opportunities come and go, sometimes faster than you can shift. What you want is to just hit the gas and go.

With PDK you can. Without having to be in a lower gear. Without having even to manually downshift.

New paragraph!

You just need to play around a little with PDK to discover the possibilities. Right now you're kind of limited by a foot trained in manual throttle control. It feels wrong to floor it in a high gear because it'll just bog down But with PDK a quick jab will result in instant downshift.

You know how with a manual you can be tooling along and downshift without changing speed? You can do that with PDK just by moving the accelerator! You just need to play around with it to learn how much, how fast, in which modes, to get the hang of it.

Once you do that I think you will find that with PDK in D you are indeed Master of Your Domain. The Crown Prince of Pavement. The King of Concrete. Lord of the Lanes. Ruler of Your Realm. Sorry, none of these are anywhere near as good as "domain." Dang, he's good!

 

Funny. Here's a shot of my first car - circa 1984 (and a gratuitous use of space to help with the page count... perhaps this will live on as the 991 reference thread for PDK vs. 7MT).

It's a 1970 4 speed. With a wonky electrical system, >250k miles, a terrible and ineffective dealer installed AC system, and a host of other mechanical ills that are lost to the sands of time.






I fully acknowledge that ordering my CC GTS with three pedals is an emotional rather than a logical choice. I may be the only person on this thread to have ever been in this situation, but there are a few times when I'm entering a corner, in mid corner, or exiting a corner and am plenty busy with the act of cornering when I realize, "oh crap, I wish I were in a different gear"! With the PDK, no problem. With a clutch, the answer is usually, "oh well, I'll just make do and deal with being in a better gear in a moment."

It'd be hard to argue against the PDK being empirically better.

 

LexVan-

Your question is thoroughly appropriate. I taught medical and graduate students at a major university. On a few occasions I asked them to help pick up or transport a 911 from/to a dealer. I was amazed that none could drive a MT car. My wife drives MT. These guys were only middle class savants without responsibilities. I had one student whose father wanted him to drive his 996 while he was in Europe long term on business. This guy refused his Dad because he had neither the courage or confidence to find out how to do it. I volunteered to help him and he refused. There are actually people who do not know or wish to know how to drive MT. Some of those may be our friends who object to MT but fail to reveal they cannot drive it. PDK is the lazy way out. Sorry, owned one.

 

Chuck911-

I have done 3 Porsche classes: two at Road Atlanta and one Driving Experience at Amelia Island Concourse. The Road Atlanta was MT and the Amelia Island was PDK. The difference was astounding in the MT direction.

Your dislike of the GTS configuration is obvious. Due to my limited intelligence, I cannot understand which Porsches you have owned or which Porsche you now drive. Can you divulge this to your fans?

 

I could swear you've been around long enough to know I've answered these points not once or twice but several times. Oh well. Maybe its like markets. WD Gann said they sometimes have to hit a point of resistance two or three times before breaking through on the 4th. So what if this is five, six, seven- its the principle that counts!

I don't dislike the GTS configuration. I think its great that Porsche has finally produced a discounted performance options package for the 911. I think they should do the same with interior and exterior appearance options. What I dislike is the way they a) combined a bunch of desirable performance options with a bunch appearance options. A lot of guys whether they say so or not are with me on this, as evidenced by the number changing Alcantara to leather, deleting CL's, etc. and b) Porsche for aggrandizing all this artifice with a GT model designation.

I purchased my 1979 911SC over 20 years ago, immediately joined PCA, and became heavily involved, eventually becoming an instructor for Driver Skills, Driver Ed and Autocross. Along the way I was able to drive, on road, track and autocross, at least one example of every 911 from the 1970's through to the 2002 996 TT.

As I said this has all been posted before. There's even multiple posts with photo's of my car in the 991 section. Its so well known in fact some of my "fans" love to diss me over it, as if you can't know anything about a car unless you own it. Or something like that.

Which, I kind of think is what you're doing now, eh?

 

Can you reiterate which Porsches you have owned to accumulate your credibility? Not too much to ask.

 

Automatic transmissions were introduced (by Oldsmobile) in 1940. By 1957, 83% of all cars sold in the US were automatics. That number is over 95% today. So said a little differently - THE VAST, VAST NUMBER OF CARS SOLD IN THE US HAVE BEEN AUTOMATICS FOR ALMOST 60 YEARS. The knowledge of how to drive manuals was lost one or two generations ago. Hell, I took drivers' ed in 1973. It was almost impossible to find an instructor with a manual back then.

I know a lot of 20-somethings. A lot. ONE knows how to drive a stick. This latest generation of car buyers has a historically low interest in cars in general. That may be a good thing societally, but trust me, they have an even lower interest in learning how to drive a manual. So how many Porsche 911 PDK owners can't drive a manual? The number many surprise or shock you. How many Porsche PDK owners in general can't drive a manual? That'd be a downright scary number.